UK Oak Open Days 2026

The 2026 edition of the UK OODs will feature visits to two oak collections in southeastern England. 

White House Farm and Arboretum (Saturday, May 16)

White House Farm, near Sevenoaks in Kent, is the celebrated garden and arboretum created over more than five decades by the distinguished British plantsman Maurice Foster VMH. Beginning in the early 1970s with a derelict smallholding, Foster transformed the site into an exceptional arboretum of woody plants, enriched by material from his own plant-hunting expeditions in East Asia, the Himalaya, Australasia, and beyond. Among its strengths is a collection of oaks grown side by side with other temperate trees and shrubs, many of them of documented wild provenance. Now held by the White House Farm Arboretum Foundation to secure its long-term future, the garden provides a rare opportunity to study trees in a thoughtful, plantsman-driven setting. For more information, visit the White House Farm website here.

Wynkcoombe Arboretum (Sunday, May 17)

Wynkcoombe Arboretum, set in the rolling landscape of West Sussex, is a privately developed arboretum created by Nicholas Smith over recent decades, with a strong emphasis on trees of botanical and silvicultural interest, notably oaks and other temperate woody genera. Established on former agricultural land and shaped through careful planting rather than grand design, Wynkcoombe reflects a plantsman’s approach: testing species and provenances for performance in a mild southern English climate, and allowing trees the space to express natural habit. Its oak collection brings together a wide range of Old and New World taxa, making the arboretum a valuable comparative resource for both horticulturists and dendrologists. For more details, visit Wynkcoombe Arboretum's website here.

Registration for this event will open in early 2026. Please write to the Tours and Events Committee to register your interest in participating.

Map of Venues